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Friday, December 3, 2010

This is a follow up to my posting of September about the Dark Harbor 20. We have had so many inquiries about this design but the enthusiasm wanes the moment a potential builder learns there is no auxiliary.

I was reading the current issue of Maine, Boats & Harbors (issue 112) about the Artisan 30 which references a bunch of other boats such as the Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 15, Watch Hill 15, the B.B. Crowninshield 17.5 and the Dark Harbor 17. In the article there is a drawing of the Artisan boat along with an image of an older boat (one apparently from the above list of boats) with an engine sitting right in the middle of the cockpit.

In any event this inspired us once and for all to engineer the installation a diesel auxiliary in the Dark Harbor 20, which you will see illustrated above and below. The rendering above shows the installation in the fiberglass version of the Dark Harbor.

The engine is a Farymann 18W marine diesel which generates 7.1 hp at 3,600 rpm. The engine is slightly undersized and is meant as a "get home" engine. It's small and we have installed it in such a way that the engine enclosure is to act as a small table in the cabin. There is a 7 gallon fuel tank built into the same enclosure for simplicity.

Here's a plan showing all three views.

I think I should clarify that this modification has not been suggested nor sanctioned by the class, it is intended for those looking to build a boat to use as a beautiful, classic daysailer. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

This minimalist daysailer was built in a joint venture between Eric Goetz of Bristol, Rhode Island (composite work) and Robert E. Derecktor of Mamaroneck, New York (joinery and systems). The boat was launched in 1996.

The design brief was for maximum speed. She is constructed of carbon pre-preg skins over a balsa core in the hull and deck for a total weight of 32,500 lbs. The structural bulkheads are also carbon pre-preg over Nomex core. The joinery is also built with weight savings in mind with thin aircraft plywood skins applied to a Nomex core.

Outside ballast weight is 8,570 lbs with an additional 10,500 lbs of movable water ballast. The rig is carbon of course as is the spade rudder and even the keel foil is fabricated of carbon.

I like it when an owner sends us an image entitled "18 Years of Varnish". That is the case in the above image. This is a nice looking little sloop of ~42' LOA. She was built in 1970 by Clare Lallow of the Isle of Wight. It looks like she was designed for Admiral's Cup racing.

This sturdy looking little cruiser was built by the Richardson Boat Company of North Tonawanda, New York. The attached article is so entertaining I will let it speak for itself. Double click for bigger view.

Diogenes was a cynical philosopher. Interesting. The boat was designed for Avard E. Fuller, son of the founder of the Fuller Brush Company. What strikes me as interesting is that in the "plan description" (see below - double click for bigger view) the designer is identified as "Avard E. Fuller and Sparkman & Stephens, jointly". That leads me to believe the client had a lot of influence on the design you see here.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

This distinctive looking 117' motorsailer was built in 1941 by the Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine. The boat was designed and built for Harold S. Vanderbilt, and launched just around the time his other boat, Ranger was being disassembled for scrap for use in World War II.

After the outbreak of WWII, she was requisitioned by the Navy. Once returned to private ownership, she has had numerous owners through the years and multiple changes to the boat have been made. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

Here is a preliminary design for a 37' sloop that was taken all the way through the bidding process but never started. The boat was bid at 3 yards in Maine. Pricing fell in the $500,000 range for a complete boat including spars, rigging, sails, electronics, safety gear, fenders, dock lines, etc.

The boat sports a very minimalist interior and was to be built using cold molded wood/Epoxy construction techniques.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

On July 21, 1931, a sailing yacht named Dorade crossed the finish line a full 2 days ahead of the fleet of larger yachts competing in the Transatlantic Yacht Race of that year. This was obviously a major boost for a young company with a fledgling young designer named Olin Stephens, age 23 at the time.

The boat was built by the Minneford Yacht Yard of City Island, New York. She was commissioned by Olin's father, Roderick Stephens, Sr. Construction oversight was by Olin's younger brother Rod.

Part of the success of that Transatlantic Race was the northerly course taken, albeit with risks from icebergs. This is known as the "great circle" route, the shortest distance between Newport, Rhode Island and Plymouth, England. Here's a chart showing Dorade's course against her competitors. Double click for bigger view.

Dorade crew in England (prior to shaving!).

Having endured 2 years of the Great Depression, New York was looking for any excuse for a celebration so after winning the Fastnet Race as a follow up to the Transatlantic Race, the crew of Dorade was treated to a press conference at City Hall, followed by a ticker tape parade up Broadway.

Here's an image of the crew at City Hall.

And here's a shot of the ticker tape parade.

And an image of a special "Welcome Home Dorade Cew" ribbon. In the image of the crew at City Hall you can see some of the men wearing these ribbons.

Here is another of those rare designs penned by Aage Nielsen, who headed up our Boston office for a time in the mid 1940s. However it looks like the preliminary set of drawings were drawn by a fellow named Alexander George, and Aage finished up the working drawings. Either way it's a nice looking boat. The image above was taken at our 75th Anniversary Celebration at Mystic Seaport in 2004.

Here's an early article from Yachting Magazine. Double click for a bigger view.

Special Note About the Indexes (Above):All boats are listed by LOA, Design Number and Boat Name and are an active hyperlink to the primary article about that particular boat that usually includes the principal plans and dimensions when available. That does not mean that is the only article about the boat within these pages. For popular designs there may be numerous postings. For Dorade for example there are 8 different postings about her thus far. If you are interested in a particular design please use the SEARCH feature to do further research. The indexes only include boats that have been posted on this blog and do not represent our entire collection. More boats are added on a continual basis. Other subjects are posted as well and do not appear in the indexes.